


Mandrakes, pumpkins and plenty of sugared sweets

by SunshineScorpius



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: F/M, Halloween, Malfoy Family Feels, Sorry for any mistakes I read this through like twice, baby scorpius is adorable, draco and astoria invented love, he's like three but also very advanced for his age, seriously they are the softest family, today I learned that pumpkin is a fruit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 22:29:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20628584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineScorpius/pseuds/SunshineScorpius
Summary: It's Halloween and the Malfoy family are starting their very own traditions, including a trip to the local pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins and baking pies, followed by an evening of trick or treating in the neighbourhood.





	Mandrakes, pumpkins and plenty of sugared sweets

**Author's Note:**

> It's not Halloween, but it's September so it's close enough! Thank you Megan for the Scorpius in a mandrake costume prompt and, of course, the chamber chat for encouraging me and supporting me writing this! You guys are incredible! Hope you all like it!

“Honey, I know it’s Halloween, but does that warrant Scorpius eating sweets for breakfast?” Draco asked as he entered the kitchen, seeing his wife and three-year-old son scoffing down a bowl of… jelly slugs? Draco lifted the bowl from between them and put it in the cupboard before placing a healthy box of cereal back on the table.

Astoria rolled her eyes fondly, “come on, Draco, don’t be such a bore.”

“Yeah, daddy!” Scorpius agreed, smiling cheekily at him whilst simultaneously chewing on the jelly slug he still had in his hand. He’d rot all his teeth at the rate Astoria was going.

“Watch your cheek,” he said fondly to Scorpius, rubbing his cheek before planting a kiss there. Scorpius stuck his tongue out, reaching out to inspect the cereal box on the table before blowing a raspberry in disgust. He hopped down from the chair and over to the cupboard where Draco hid the sweets, but it was clear it was well out of reach. When he realised he couldn’t get to them, he sat on the floor in a huff.

Astoria chuckled at him, going over to pick him. Draco didn’t miss her sneakily reaching into the cupboard to feed their child yet another jelly slug.

“We’re still heading to the pumpkin patch right? Scorpius is going to love it there,” she asked smiling as Scorpius took to playing with her hair.

Draco smiled. “Of course we are. And you are finished with Scorpius’ costume for tonight, aren’t you?”

“Last few touches need to go on it, but yes it’s pretty much finished.”

“Brilliant.”

Draco took Scorpius off Astoria and fed him some real breakfast whilst she took off upstairs to get ready. Astoria never often wore make-up – and Draco would insist she never needed it anyway – but there was rarely a place she’d go without a small amount of mascara and plum lipstick. Scorpius had just learnt how to roll his eyes, and was in a game with Draco where he would roll them every time Draco looked at him when she re-entered the kitchen in a knitted auburn oversized jumper and a pair of jeans.

She placed a hat on Scorpius’ head, his blond-hair disappearing underneath, and honked the bobble on top. Scorpius burst into laughter – something he did often when around his mother.

“Come on, time to get your coat on, it’ll be cold out there,” she encouraged, and Scorpius hopped down from the chair and ran off into the hallway. “You too,” she said to Draco, winking.

Draco followed, “I was just wondering where my bobble hat was,” he teased, grabbing her waist and spinning her around. She tiptoed to kiss him lovingly, before pulling away and grabbing her scarlet red bobble hat from the coat stand. She placed it on his head, kissed him one more time then whispered, “be careful what you wish for,” in his ear and walking off to pull her coat on.

Draco never dared catch himself in the mirror before pulling the hat off. Scorpius was staring at him with his hands on his hips and eyebrows raised. “What?”

“Only I get to kiss mummy,” he said, sticking his tongue out and grabbing his coat from the coat rack. Draco was a little too stunned to reply, clearly his own sassiness was rubbing off desperately on his child. Astoria, however, found the comment hilarious, before kissing her son on the head and promptly agreeing with him.

“You know, I could leave you both here and go to the pumpkin patch myself,” he teased, picking the car keys up and wiggling them teasingly.

“And how would you benefit from that, my love?” Astoria asked, doing up the zip and buttons on Scorpius’ coat and making sure his scarf was tucked in.

“A nice peaceful day out on my own? Sounds like a great day,” he teased. Astoria rolled her eyes and opened the front door when Scorpius gasped loudly and took off upstairs. Astoria and Draco shared a look, both of them knowing exactly what their son had forgotten.

“Nugget,” they said in unison, the same exasperated tone. Sure enough, a few moments later, Scorpius came bounding down the stairs with his stuffed Niffler named Nugget in his hand and a wide smile, running past his parents and down the drive to the car.

Draco learned to drive just before Scorpius was born, knowing that flooing or apparating with a young baby was a rather difficult task and Wiltshire tended to be out the way of most places. The car’s come in handy and has become their favourite way to travel – and not because it gets Scorpius to fall asleep, though that is a bonus. Scorpius has always been quite the restless child, often suffering from nightmares particularly in recent months. Whenever he’s been having trouble sleeping, the four of them (Nugget included) would hop in the car and drive around for half an hour. By the time they returned home, Scorpius would be fast asleep in the backseat.

Before Draco was allowed to pull out the drive, Scorpius insisted he put Nugget in his seat belt. Nugget always was a nightmare for never doing what he was told. When Scorpius finally wrestled him in and buckled the seat belt, they were green for go and Draco began the short journey to Wiltshire County’s Annual Pumpkin Patch Fest.

When they arrived, Scorpius grabbed both his parents hands and pulled them towards the patch. It had rained a little overnight and Draco was silently grateful they’d put his orange wellington boots on to match his coat as there was already mud splashed up him. Not that Draco minded all that much when Scorpius smiled like that. He had his mothers’ smile, brighter than the sun and more enchanting than the moon.

Scorpius was looking through the pumpkins, evaluating their size when he saw a giant one at the end of the patch and gasped loudly. “Mummy! Daddy! Look!” He took off in a run towards the giant pumpkin, beaming wildly. “How did it get this big?”

“That would be by magic,” a woman had approached wearing a soft maroon jumper with denim dungarees. There was a name badge that Draco couldn’t quite make out, but it was clear she worked at the patch.

“Magic? You can do magic?” He asked. Scorpius was well aware he was a wizard when he had his first bout of accidental magic on his third birthday – he’d sent tea in his grandfathers face when he asked Astoria a rather rude question. Draco hoped Scorpius didn’t say too much, though it was easy to pass it off as childish imagination.

“I personally can’t, but the farmer who grew this pumpkin used a magic fertiliser,” she said, keeping her voice light and enthusiastic.

Scorpius’ eyes widened with excitement. “Does he have a wand too?”

“I’m sure he does, though he always keeps it a secret from me,” she sighed.

Scorpius sighed with her; he was a rather empathetic child. “Maybe when I’m older, I can show you my wand! Then you won’t need to be sad about it.”

“I would love that!” She smiled brightly. “Would you like to sit on the pumpkin?”

Scorpius gasped, “I can do that?”

“Did you bring the camera, dear?” Astoria asked. Draco nodded in affirmation, as if he’d forget that. The lady helped Scorpius onto the giant pumpkin and stepped back to allow Draco to take a picture of him smiling widely and proudly. She then offered to take a picture of the three of them, so Astoria hopped up next to Scorpius whilst Draco stayed standing next to it.

Once all the photos had been taken, Scorpius politely thanked the girl before running off, ready to pick out his pumpkin.

It took all of 57 minutes for Draco’s indecisive son to pick a pumpkin – it had to be the most orange, the biggest, and the one that smelt the best. Draco would never understand the mind of his son. But eventually they were back in the car – Nugget perfectly strapped in – with the _best_ pumpkin grown at the pumpkin patch and were heading back to the manor for a session of pumpkin carving and pumpkin pie baking.

Scorpius was a talker and talked their ears off all the way home about something or other, babbling like he often did. He was a bright child, well beyond his years. Draco was already so incredibly proud of him.

Once home, Astoria disappeared to put the final touching on Scorpius’ Halloween costume whilst Draco and Scorpius busied themselves in the kitchen. Draco lifted Scorpius up onto the kitchen counter and carved the top off the pumpkin before handing him a spoon and a bowl to scoop out the insides.

“Can I carve the face, daddy?” He asked, elbow deep in pumpkin seeds. The whole kitchen was beginning to smell like the famous fall-time fruit.

“Absolutely not, but you can draw the face and I’ll copy it,” Draco suggested, getting the ingredients ready to start on the pumpkin pie.

“Okay,” he shrugged. “Can I eat pumpkin?”

“Of course you can, we’re making pumpkin pie.”

“Nooooo,” he whined. “I mean the inside, this gooey bit,” he said, holding up a string of the pumpkins insides. Draco grimaced, he wasn’t the biggest fan of dealing with that part of the pumpkin. In fact, until Scorpius was born, he’d never carved a pumpkin before. When Scorpius was born, he vowed to give him the childhood that Draco was never allowed himself.

“I think you can, but I wouldn’t recommend it,” he said. Scorpius looked at him for a long time, then looked at the pumpkin in his hands. For a moment, Draco thought he’d just straight up eat it, but then he shrugged and put it in the bowl with the rest of it.

Astoria joined them for the baking, thankfully taking over from Draco so he could focus on carving the pumpkin. Scorpius drew a picture for Draco, which consisted of two upside triangles for the eyes and a rather slanted jagged mouth. _Easy enough¸_ Draco thought. Scorpius then helped Astoria, getting way too much flour in his hair and down his jumper and basically everywhere, but Astoria never minded. She giggled along with him and Draco just listened them laugh, knowing it was the only sound in the world that gave him peace.

When the pie made it to the oven, Draco had finally finished carving the pumpkin. Scorpius hopped down from the counter to inspect it, holding up his drawing against it for reference.

“Daddy!” He exclaimed. “It looks nothing like the drawing!” Draco was about to apologise when he spoke up again. “The eyes aren’t even in line,” he folded his arms in a sulk.

Draco sighed. “I’m sorry, Scorpius. I tried my best.”

Scorpius looked at him for a moment with a puzzled face, like he was trying to figure out a tricky word he couldn’t quite read. And then he tackled Draco’s legs in a hug. “It’s perfect, daddy. I love it.”

“But I thought it was all wrong?”

“No, it’s great, because you did it. And you’re my dad, so it’s great.”

“Thank you, my baby boy,” Draco kissed the top of his head. Together, they put the pumpkin on the porch step. They never usually get any trick or treaters, mostly because the house is rather daunting to walk down, but Scorpius wanted it out there anyway.

They spent the rest of the day up until dinner sitting together in the living room. Draco reading the paper, Scorpius drawing something on the coffee table and Astoria onto her next knitting project – a new scarf for Scorpius when winter hit properly.

In order for Scorpius to get out trick or treating before his bedtime, they had an early dinner, leaving plenty of time for them to wrestle Scorpius into his costume and get ready themselves. Astoria had been working for months on their matching family costumes. She had carefully crafted a mandrake costume for Scorpius, fitted with a plant pot around his stomach and a knitted hat with leaves sticking out of the top.

Astoria and Draco’s costume were matching herbology robes, with special gloves for mandrakes and hot pink knitted earmuffs. Draco wasn’t too happy about the colour but seeing how happy it made Astoria made him forget all about that. They set up a camera to take a picture of the three of them in their matching outfits before heading out.

Scorpius held a pumpkin shaped treat bucket that he swung side to side as he skipped down the driveway, almost too happy to be dressed as a mandrake for Halloween. When Astoria presented the costume to him, he gasped dramatically before jumping up and down in excitement and begging to try it on. Then he paraded around the living room, nodding his head so the leaves would bob with him.

“Scorpius, honey, wait up!” Astoria called.

“Then hurry up, mummy!” He shouted back, waiting patiently at the end of the driveway. Astoria shook her head fondly, taking Draco’s arm as they followed their son down the drive.

The town of Wiltshire was occupied by both muggles and wizards alike, though it was a largely muggle area. Draco was always shocked that this is where the Malfoys chose to place the manor considering their past opinions on muggles and muggle-borns alike. Draco and Astoria tended to steer clear of the wizards due to a rumour about Astoria and Scorpius that surfaced a few days after he was born but have grown quite close to some of their muggle neighbours.

The first house they arrived at was an older couple who visited for tea often before Scorpius was born. Since then, they’ve only been around a couple of times as it’s difficult to find time to settle with a high-demanding toddler. Scorpius raced up the driveway, the leaves on his hat bobbing everywhere. He couldn’t quite reach the doorbell, so pouted until Draco and Astoria caught up and rang it for him.

The couple – Mr and Mrs Pickett – approached the door together, smiling brightly as they opened it to reveal the three Malfoys waiting patiently.

Scorpius smiled brightly, jumping up and down excitedly as he shouted, “TRICK OR TREAT!”

“Oh look at you!” Mrs Pickett cooed, bending down to pinch Scorpius’ cheeks. “You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.” Scorpius went suddenly shy, backing out of the woman’s embrace and back against his mothers’ legs. He was often shy with new people if they got too close. He was fine until they touched him, which would be when he caved into himself. Mrs Pickett, luckily, seemed to understand.

“How old is he now?” She asked Draco and Astoria.

Astoria kept a hand on Scorpius’ shoulder. “Three, four in December.”

“I remember when you brought him home from the hospital, such a tiny thing he was.”

“Well young man,” Mr Pickett inputted, bending down to Scorpius' height, “I suppose you want some sweets?”

“Yes, please, sir," Scorpius replied shyly, smiling softly. Mr Pickett obliged, pulling out a bag of sweets and allowing Scorpius to pick from them. Mr Pickett then shook Scorpius’ tiny hand, slipping a second sweet into it and winked, causing Scorpius to smile brightly, his previous shyness forgotten. They said their goodbyes, making empty promises of meeting for tea soon before moving onto the next house.

It was a muddle of collecting sweets and small talk between neighbours they haven’t spoken to in a while. A lot of people questioned the mandrake costume, but they managed to pass it off as one of Scorpius’ favourite children’s book. Many pretended to be terrified of his costume when they opened the door causing Scorpius to erupt in a fit of giggles.

They were approaching the final house of the night before the night fell for good. Scorpius was beginning to get tired, as was Astoria, who was leaning on Draco’s side more than usual. Draco rang the doorway of the final house on the street. They weren’t greeted by a person, but the door opened eerily slowly, followed by the dramatic dropping of a ghost decoration covering the entire doorway.

Scorpius screamed, startled by the scare tactic and buried his face in Draco’s coat. A man then appeared at the door laughing about his trick, to which Astoria joined in. Scorpius, however, burst into tears, begging for Draco to pick him up.

“Oops, a little too scary for the little one?” The man – Nicholas – asked, still clearly impressed with his joke. “Every other kid found it hilarious.”

“He’s just tired,” Draco commented, picking Scorpius up.

“Like a true mandrake now, darling,” Astoria cooed, stroking Scorpius’ cheek softly. That eased Scorpius a bit, letting himself chuckle at his mums joke.

Scorpius sniffed, “that was scary,” he said.

“I’m sorry, Scorpius. Would a sweet make it better?” Nicholas asked.

Scorpius, naturally, perked at that. “Yes please!”

“Take your pick,” he said, holding out a bowl of sweets. Scorpius rummaged around in the pile before drawing one of his favourite muggle sweets and placing it in his pumpkin bucket.

“Thank you, sir,” he said, smiling at him.

“You’re most welcome,” Nicholas smiled back. Again, they said their goodbyes and Astoria, Draco and Scorpius made their way slowly back to the manor. Scorpius koala hugged Draco, his bucket tapping slightly off his back with every step, but Draco didn’t mind.

They reached the house just after dark fell. Scorpius was almost asleep on his shoulder, but as soon as they stepped inside, he seemed to perk.

“Can I have some sweets now?” He asked as Draco took him upstairs to bed, Astoria in tow.

Astoria laughed. “Not tonight, darling. It’s time for bed.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “Can I sleep in my costume?”

Astoria and Draco exchanged an amused glance, both shaking their heads. However, they let Scorpius stay in his mandrake costume for the night as long as he was comfortable enough to sleep in it. Together they tucked him in, taking the sweets from his hands (knowing full well he’ll eat them in the middle of the night if left unsupervised).

“Sweets for breakfast?” Scorpius asked hopefully.

“Yes,” Astoria said the same time Draco said, “no.”

Scorpius laughed, cuddling further into his duvet and hugging Nugget tightly. “Mummy, daddy?”

“Yes, honey?”

“I’ve had the best day ever.”

Within moments, his sweet little boy was fast asleep, with soft breaths and blond eyelashes fluttering as he dreamt. Draco and Astoria kissed his forehead in turn and let their precious mandrake sleep, knowing he’ll be ready for mischief in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts so kudos and comments always welcome!  
Twitter: @sunshinescorp  
Tumblr: sunshinescorpiusmalfoy


End file.
